Well, it doesn’t just give you so much faith in the leadership of our country and… no, it’s impossible to even finish that sentence. In an apparent retaliatory action earlier this week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed $35 million in state funding that would have gone toward a youth sports complex in the New York City area. Tampa area that the team will also use as a player development base. This veto appears to be direct in response to the Tampa Bay Rays’ tweet gameday last weekend about gun violence and announced the club’s $50,000 donation to Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit dedicated to gun reform.
Now, whether public funding should be given to sports teams and facilities in the first place is a separate issue. DeSantis raised his concerns about such use of tax dollars during a press conference on Friday (to a standing ovation from the crowd), but added that “companies could free to join or not participate with any speech they wish, but it is not suitable to subsidize the politics of a private company. ”
Last Thursday, the Rays and New York Yankees decided to forego their casual game coverage on Twitter and instead chose to publish the truth about gun violence in the US in response to the rifle shootings. horror school in Uvalde, Texas. CNN reports that insider sources say that DeSantis didn’t decide to veto funding for the Rays’ facility until it donated to Everytown. At the time of the match, DeSantis had not even offered his condolences publicly to the victims and their families.
During his 2018 campaign, he was given an A from the NRA and appears to be doing everything he can to keep it up when he runs for office this fall. He hasn’t dodged the sports headlines this week – he’s also asked the Special Olympics to drop their vaccination mandate, threatening to fine the organization $27.5 million if they don’t give up. request. After the Special Olympics – yes, you are a true hero, Ron.
Naturally, private corporations are only punished for being politically active when their actions go against DeSantis’ beliefs. Who’s First Amendment?
